Coin Collecting

[faroukfarouk]

I find the US quarter dollar commemorative issues very interesting; sometimes state-related, sometimes event or history related.

 

[dreadnought]

I find the US quarter dollar commemorative issues very interesting; sometimes state-related, sometimes event or history related.

I like old coins. When I was a paperboy, buffalo nickels, Mercury dimes, standing liberty quarters, walking liberty halves, and Morgan and Peace silver dollars were still in circulation, though there weren't a lot of them, and they were well worn.

 

[Zackuth]

I’ve been collecting over 40 years. The first coin I got was a 5 franc coin from 1953 (France). Most of what I own isn’t worth a great deal. I have both coins and banknotes from all over the world. One of the coins I own is from India and struck around 1450 BC.

 

[dreadnought]

I’ve been collecting over 40 years. The first coin I got was a 5 franc coin from 1953 (France). Most of what I own isn’t worth a great deal. I have both coins and banknotes from all over the world. One of the coins I own is from India and struck around 1450 BC.

1450 BC is a little older than my oldest coin (1794 AD).

 

[faroukfarouk]

1450 BC is a little older than my oldest coin (1794 AD).

That's pretty old...

 

[dreadnought]

That's pretty old...

I would think a 1450 BC coin would be worth something.

 

[Zackuth]

You would think it should be worth something, but on my meager budget, the coin is not in the best of conditions and it is made of copper. If memory serves it is about $60.

 

[Babe Ruth]

You would think it should be worth something, but on my meager budget, the coin is not in the best of conditions and it is made of copper. If memory serves it is about $60.

Yeah, I go to a local coin show every Fall. And I'm surprised by how little value some of these 2000+ year old coins have..
It's pretty easy to find Roman era coins cheap. Even if they look like garbage, (to me) it's cool to handle something that was circulated thousands of years ago. Who knows what historical hands have held it..

 

[faroukfarouk]

Yeah, I go to a local coin show every Fall. And I'm surprised by how little value some of these 2000+ year old coins have..
It's pretty easy to find Roman era coins cheap. Even if they look like garbage, (to me) it's cool to handle something that was circulated thousands of years ago. Who knows what historical hands have held it..

A lot of memories and historical allusions there...

 

[dreadnought]

You would think it should be worth something, but on my meager budget, the coin is not in the best of conditions and it is made of copper. If memory serves it is about $60.

The fact that it is made of copper has little to do with its value. However, its condition is important.

 

[faroukfarouk]

The fact that it is made of copper has little to do with its value. However, its condition is important.

Sometimes copper is referred to as brass...

 

[dreadnought]

Sometimes copper is referred to as brass...

Flying eagle cents (1856-1858) look a little like brass.

 

[faroukfarouk]

View attachment 231618
Flying eagle cents (1856-1858) look a little like brass.

Great pictures there!

To think they are pre-Civil War...

 

[dreadnought]

Great pictures there!

To think they are pre-Civil War...

Before 1857, cents were copper and about the size of a fifty cent piece.

 

[faroukfarouk]

Before 1857, cents were copper and about the size of a fifty cent piece.View attachment 231764

Interesting! you seem to know quite a lot about the subject...

 

[dreadnought]

Interesting! you seem to know quite a lot about the subject...

I started collecting as a boy, when I took a paper route and my dad showed me his collection.

 

[faroukfarouk]

I started collecting as a boy, when I took a paper route and my dad showed me his collection.

So did you inherit / were you gifted his collection?

 

[dreadnought]

So did you inherit / were you gifted his collection?

Yes, he gave me his collection before he died. When my mother died later, there were more coins - don't know where they came from. Also got a few from my uncle when he died. But I've invested a significant amount of my own money into the collection.

 

[jacks]

I collected coins as a kid and for some reason the 1909 Vdb S was my dream coin. Apparently they didn't make very many and they are very rare. I never did get one, but just as well I probably would have lost it by now...

 

[dreadnought]

I collected coins as a kid and for some reason the 1909 Vdb S was my dream coin. Apparently they didn't make very many and they are very rare. I never did get one, but just as well I probably would have lost it by now...

My dad collected Lincoln (and Indian head) cents. The 1909-S VDB is one he didn't have. It's worth about $600 in good (G-4) condition, according to the Red Book. I have a 1909 Philadelphia mint VDB cent worth about $18.50.